BAIT TIPPING CHALLENGE...WORMS vs GULP!

[Jim Gronaw]

Well, I had never done it before, but today I decided to try tipping my 1/64th oz shad dart jighead with two different baits to see if it would make a difference. I fished a small public lake in Adams County, PA from 3 to 5 pm. Weather was splendid...68 degrees and partly sunny skies and calm and the fish were biting.

Last week I had to go to the drop-shot/live worm rig to catch fish that had settled near the bottom of 6-8 feet of water after a cold front. Not today, as I found fish 5 ft from the surface over a submerged creek bed. Using the jig with a small piece of garden worm, I caught fish steadily until I reached a count of 19 fish, then decided to try the Gulp! minnows as a tipping bait. Since the entire 1 inch minnow would make a bulky, oversized offering for the gills, I decided to use the back half of the minnow as a tipping option, suspended just like the jig/worm option. Here are the results...The first three fish I caught on the Gulp minnow tipped jig were the three largest of the day at 10 to 10.5 inches. I don't know why this is, maybe a small group of bigger fish just cruised in at this particular time, but the top three were on successive casts. Maybe the jig and Gulp presented a slightly larger offering that only the bigger fish would approach...just a guess.

I caught the same amount...19 apiece...on each tipping option for a total of 38 released fish. Most of the fish on the Gulp tipping were 9 inches or better, and the worm offering fish were just slightly smaller. I fished each option for one hour.

Worm fish tended to take the bobber under with more gusto, and would make the bobber dissapeer. The fish that took the Gulp tipped jig tended to 'trail off' with the jig, not always pulling the bobber below the surface. Sometimes, they would just 'tilt' the bobber and you had to be able to recognize the strike. Most fish were caught over the creek channel, which is easy casting distance from the shoreline.

So what did I find out? Probably, not much. The fish were on the feed as a warm 70 degree November day had them going and action seemed just as fast with either bait. Water was at 56 degrees and clear. The only noticable differences was the 'trailing off' bites on the Gulp and the larger fish on same. Need to experiment more...maybe this Saturday at another lake!

No, didn't prove much today, except it was a beautiful time to be out and those lovely fish made it a great time.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Scent, shape and movement, then, are the key factors.

I suppose it helps that one also has a GPS mapping, side imaging, nuclear powered sonar available...so a bait may be dropped among them.
The alternative is having a small focused environment, which gives the same effect.
As Jason P. says you can't catch em if they ain't there!

[Jim Gronaw]

Keep in mind that, even though the jury is still out on the Gulp!s effectiveness on freshwater venues, it is a smash hit with many of the saltwater crowd for stripers, seatrout, redfish and others.

[Jason Preslar]

In my experiences the jury has reached a verdict. Gulp! Alive is great. Minnows and crickets especially.

[carl hendrix]

like I said before guys;; ive tried the berkly products many; many times with very little luck.  I have about 20 to 30 bags of the stuff;  tried most of them;; just haven't had any luck with them. 

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Same here.
In my case, I'm not all that good at finding fish that I can present the stuff to.
You, on the other hand, are.

So, on the one hand you have guys that think it's wonderful. On the other , not so wonderful.

[Jason Preslar]

It doesn't matter what you use if there aren't fish there. My point is in bigger waters there are a lot of places that the fish can be that you aren't. Like I previously stated: minnows and crickets are great. I don't really have use for the rest of them.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

The root of my problem- big water lake (almost 60,000 acres)
I couldn't tell you on any given day where the fish are.

[Slip Sinker]

what was the word you used describing a small eco subset of a larger system?

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

A microtope.

My home water, Lake Murray, has three distinct main "biotopes"
River
Mid water
Deep rift.

Any smaller segment within these are microtopes.

Its a term I picked up in my aquarium days.

[Jim Gronaw]

Hey Scruff...ever thought about focusing on smaller waters, say, 300 acres and smaller?  You can do them that size with a kayak, and I bet you'll pattern fish much faster than on big 'ole Murray.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Sure I've thought about it. Plenty.
I'll have to see what's available.
A few pay lakes, a park pond, etc. are within 45 min.
Meanwhile, I'll stop complaining and gete some Gulp!

[Slip Sinker]

you are an aquarist... i believe you have a distinct edge there.